"Double Take A Billboard Project (2004-2005) features eight site-specific billboards throughout San Franscisco. each billboard image is designed to integrate the billboard to its location, taking into consideration the surroundings." The project is supported by ClearChannel Outdoor.-- via Billboard Liberation

"Before the football match between Argentina and Brazil, an Argentinean condom company came up with this ad to show the Brazilians what they were going to do to them. Brazil won the match and their Football organization replied to the ad."

Pula Fashion, the Romanian comrades of the Billboard Liberation Front, is running a campaign against the abundance of, what else, billboards. The campaign runs under a slogan "People Died Here to Defend Freedom", referring to the anti-communist revolt of the late 1980s. Pula Fashion says:

"Can you still remember what the buildings in your city used to look like? For every communist slogan you tore down, now there are a hundred advertising slogans. For every hammer and sickle you smashed, there are now a thousand commercial brands. What have you gained? You exchanged the simple and dignified poverty of bullet-ridden buildings for the loud, bazaar-stall poverty of historical facades hidden under special offers and seasonal discounts."-- via Bukresh

Billboardom's reader Vlad Nanca writes: "Here are some pics from Bucharest where capitalism took over in full - billboards are covering people's apartments and all those people get is something like 5-10 euros a month. They say "it's ok, they can see through billboards". At night, the bright light of capitalism shines from the billboard illumination into this folks' bedrooms."

If for some reason you are interested in Belarusian billboards (and why wouldn't you), here's a fairly large gallery. This is my favorite billboard for heavy farming machinery by Gomselmash under the slogan "The Pride of the Country". The collection of the social billboards with a healthy mix of state propaganda is also very nice.

This one with a cute police (actually, militia) officer reads: "Call us to defend your rights." Speaking of rights, here's an earlier post about a campaign in Poland to defend freedom of speech in Belarus.

A somewhat morbid billboard that (I guess) warns against the dangers of speeding and says "Are you in a hurry to reach us?"

"The Adscape project aims to understand the extent to which advertising has changed the urban environment and how the commercial landscape may or may not reflect the socioeconomic landscape of neighbborhoods and communities.

Advertising data was recorded from three neighborhoods in New York City: East Harlem, a historically poor, primarily Latino neighborhood; SoHo, a downtown shopping district; and the Upper East Side, a wealthy residential area. In each neighborhood, ads were recorded in a five-block section that consisted of two avenue blocks and three adjacent street blocks."

A Mercedes billboard in Moscow. Copy: "Reserved Only For M-Class". Source: Advertka (in Russian). Also take a look at the "making of" behind this billboard (also in Russian, but with pictures). A similar idea was used by Mini in Toronto, where the car slid off the billboard. Also, check out similar billboards by Jeep.

Now that the story about the War on Legs has made some major headlines, I took the first flight to the battlefield and am now reporting from the front lines. The city overall looks fairly tame and free of embarassing influences. The entire stretch of their central avenue featured only one advertising structure depicticting a remotely nude model (Palmers lingerie store, see below). The pantyhose maker Ponti still holds strong as its billboards shine proudly from the sides of the city's largest mall. (Nice legs, too.) The citizens don't seem too embarassed by the view. On the other side of the said mall hangs another billboard for a gadget seller featuring soft porn. You can call them at +37322 888555 to share your feeling of disgust. Or email; the address is right on the billboard.